Container piercing apparatus



May 12, 1953 c. PONTILLO CONTAINER PIERCING APPARATUS Filed June 14, 1951 FIG.2

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INVENTOR Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE CONTAINER PIERCING APPARATUS Cyril Pontillo, Kenosha, Wis. Application June 14, 1951 Serial No. 231,483

4 Claims. (Cl. 30-16) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in container piercing apparatus, more specifically to a device of this character which employs a reciprocating piercing apparatus.

An object of this invention is to provide a can piercing apparatus including a shielded spring mounted piercing tool normally held" within the shield and movable to pierce the can after the piercin member has moved through a predetermined distance.

Another object of this invention is to provide a can piercing apparatus including a shielded spring mounted piercing tool which will be easy to handle and which may be quickly and easily applied to a can, the tool being normally retained within the shield by the contraction of a spring member and which may be easily forced through the end wall of the can by pressure applied on the handle of the apparatus thereby rupturing the can and when the pressure is removed from the handle, the tool will automatically assume its normal position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reciprocating container piercing apparatus ineluding a normally shielded spring mounted piercing tool provided with adjusting means for predetermin-ing the downward movement of the tool and thereby predetermining the size of the opening to be pierced in the end wall of the container. a stepped plate which may be reciprocated at approximately right angles to the tool and immediately adjacent therewith to provide abutments ior limiting the downward movement of the tool.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a container piercing apparatus for providing predetermined size openings in the end wall of the container having a spring mounted normally shielded container piercing tool and a shi'itable locking plat for limiting the movement of the tool, and includes a downwardly extending support for positioning the apparatus on the container and a second support or protector extending at substantially right angles from the shield to be disposed onv the end wall of the container to be pierced.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a reciprocating container piercing ap paratus which will be comparatively simple in construction, strong, durable, highly fiicient and reliable in use, compact, and which is economical to manufacture and produce.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description pro-- The adjustment mechanism comprising coeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical sectional view illustrating the piercing tool and its peculiar mounting together with the adjusting plate.

Figure 2 is an end sectional view illustrating the piercing tool together with the support members.

Figure 3 is a front plan view of my invention.

Figure 4 is an end plan view of my invention.

Referring now to a more detailed description of the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate similar parts in the views of the invention, It indicates in a general way a preferred embodiment of the inventive concept.

As shown the apparatus includes a body ll which is made of metal, although it may be made of any suitable material for the purposes intended.

The body is somewhat rectangular in shape and includes a substantially centrally vertically disposed opening i2 extending entirely through the body. Slidably secured in the opening [2 is a piercing tool 13. The tool includes a base member as and a stem 2|.

The base member is normally disposed within the opening 52 and. is of such diameter that it can readily slide in the opening 22. The free end. of the base member is formed into a substantially triangularly shaped piercing element IS. A slot l9 of substantial width and depth is out clear across the face 29 of the base memher It and is arranged between the piercing point 13 and the surface ll.

The stem 2! is secured in the base member and extends upwardly from surface il passing through the opening E2 in the top of the body H and is threadedly connected to a push member 22 which is adapted to be engaged to operate the apparatus.

A spring 23 surrounds the stem 2!- and has its ends stationed at the bottom surface 24 of the push member and a washer 25' disposed on the surfacell of th body H. This spring is normally contracted and holds the base member within the body H when the apparatus is not being used.

The body H is slotted at the sides as represented by the numerals 25 and 285 to mount a flat strip 27" which is capable of sliding in the slots 26 and 25' and also in slot [9. The strip is cut to form a series of stepped abutment surfaces 28 and 28' which at predetermined settings intermittently engage the top surface 29 of the slot l9. For easy manipulation, finger grips 30 are mounted on each free end of the strip 21.

Attention is directed to the position of the strip relative to the slot l9. .The edge 31 of the strip bears against the surface 29' of the slot l9 in normal position to thereby retain the piercing tool in the body H as shown in Figure 1.

The body ll includes a flat circularly shaped skirt 3| which extends at approximatel at right angles from the base of the body II and under operating conditions is arranged to bear on the end wall of a container. This skirt is formed adjacent to one side of the opening l2 in the bottom of the body H.

The body I l is also provided with a rearwardly extending flange 32 oppositely disposed from skirt 3|. This flange has a downwardly extending lip member 33 and under normal operating conditions bears along the side of a container immediately adjacent to the end wall wherein the skrt 3| rests.

In operation the container piercing apparatus II is placed above the end wall of a container with the skirt bearing directly on the end wall. The lip overhangs the end wall and bears against the side of the container. Downward pressure on the push member 22 will force the cutting element into the end wall. As illustrated particularly in Figure 1, the downward travel of the piercing tool is determined by the position of the steps relative to the surface 29 of the slot [8. That is, when the surface 29 of the slot l9 contacts the step 28 the downward movement of the tool is stopped and the penetration of the piercing element will not be as much as the diameter of the base member 28. If the strip 21 is shifted to the left so that step 28' is in line with the surface 29 l of the slot IS, the downward travel of the piercing tool is greater than in the position as illustrated in Figure 1. The size of the perforation, therefore, may be as great as the diameter of the base member 20. The particular utility in the above instance lies in the use to which the container may be put. If for instance, it is desirable to empty the contents of the container, the larger size perforation is desirable. Again, if the contents are to be dispensed at intermittent periods, the size of the perforation could and should be made smaller as that occasioned by the perforation in the position of Figure 1.

It is believed that the man advantages of a piercing apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention will be readily understood and although a preferred embodiment of the device is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to which fall with-' in the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A container piercing apparatus including a body having an opening extending vertically between two oppositely disposed end walls and open at each end, a slot extending horizontally between two other oppositely disposed end walls and in line with said opening, a reciprocating piercing member comprising a base and a stem slideably mounted in said opening, said base member having a piercing member at its free end, said stem having a push member on its free end, a spring surrounding said stem and disposed between said base member and said push member, said spring normally urging said stern outwardly and away from said opening and retaining said base member within said opening, a fiat strip slideable in said slot for contacting said base member and limiting the downward movement of said reciprocating piercing member.

2. A container piercing apparatus including a substantially rectangularly shaped hollow body, said body provided with an elongated opening extending vertically from two oppositely disposed end walls and open at both ends, said body provided with a slot extending horizontally from two other oppositely disposed end walls in line with said opening, a reciprocating piercing member having a base member and a stem, said base member normally disposed in said opening, said stem normally disposed outside of said opening, said reciprocating member slideable in said opening, a flat strip mounted in said slot and slideable therein, said strip cut to form steps, said base member provided with an abutment for intermittently engaging one or the other of said steps to limit the movement of said reciprocating piercing member in said opening.

3. A container piercing apparatus including a substantially rectangularly shaped hollow body and having a raised arcuate hollow portion extending vertically from two oppositely disposed end walls, and open at both ends, said body provided with a slot extending horizontally from two other oppositely disposed end walls and passing througn said hollow portion, a reciprocating piercing member including a base member and a stem, said piercing member capable of sliding in said hollow portion, a flat striplike element mounted in said slot and capable of sliding therein, said strip formed with a plurality of steps, said base member having a piercing member at its free end, said stem having a push member at its free end,.said base member normally disposed within said arcuate portion, said stem normally disposed outside of said arcuate portion but immediately adjacent thereto, said base member pro vided with a slot formed in one side and including upper and lower abutment surfaces, said lower abutment surface contacting said strip at one point in normal position and held automatically thereby by said spring, said upper abutment surface contacting one of said steps in another position when said spring is compressed, said steps intermittently predeterminin the downward movement of said reciprocating element.

4. A container piercing apparatus including a substantially rectangularly shaped hollow body and having a raised arcuate hollow portion extending vertically from two oppositely disposed end walls. and open at both ends, said body provided with a slot extending horizontally from two other oppositely disposed end walls and passing through said hollow portion, a reciprocating piercing member including a, base member and a stem, said piercing member capable of sliding in said hollow portion, a flat striplike element mounted in said slot and capable of sliding therein, said strip formed with a plurality of steps, said base member having a piercing member at its free end, said stem having a push member at its free end, said base member normally disposed within said arcuate portion, said stem normally disposed outside of said arcuate portion but immediately adjacent thereto, said base member provided with a slot formed in one side and including upper and lower abutment surfaces, said lower abutment surface contacting said strip at bottom opening and forming an extension to said body.

CYRIL PONTILLO.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,498,301 Saari June 17, 1924 1,919,711 Cutler July 23, 1933 2,338,592 Lorenzen Jan. 4, 1944 2,584,047 Phillips Jan. 29, 1952 

